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"Babe's Longest Homer" Marker

At one time Tampa had a downtown sports stadium named Plant Field, which would host Spring Training baseball games. It was here, on April 4, 1919, in a game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Giants, that Babe Ruth hit his longest home run ever -- 587 feet. To give some perspective, a home run in some ballparks nowadays need only travel 300 feet. The ball was given to evangelist Billy Sunday, who was hosting a tent revival at the nearby Florida Fairgrounds, and who had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch of the game.

Plant Field was knocked down years ago and replaced with the John Sykes College of Business, on what is now the campus of the University of Tampa. MBA hopefuls on the way to class can read the marker and draw inspiration from the Babe, or perhaps just calculate how much the ball would be worth in today's market.

"Babe's Longest Homer" Marker

Downtown. Just west of the river, north side of John F. Kennedy Blvd, on the campus of the University of Tampa. Right onto University Drive. In front of a building named the John Sykes College of Business.